Pseudo
by skyspireskit3
Summary: Mrs. Brisby visits Jenner. One-shot.


Just a scene I felt was missing from the movie.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Mrs. Brisby drew her shawl tighter as she made her way through the labyrinthine barracks beneath the rosebush. This far down it was dark and damp, the jeweled riot of lights that had welcomed her in left far behind along with Justin's sunny smile. While the upper levels were a celebration of progress and innovation, the living quarters seemed a testament to the dank, primitive surroundings from whence the rats had come.

The gem around her neck felt heavy, its glow concealed beneath her wrap. Still she moved on, in the direction the stone-faced guard had pointed, feeling her way along the damp rock of the walls. She remembered Justin telling her that all of this had been a natural cave; she wished she had him now, but felt she had burdened him long enough. The rats had work to do, all on her behalf, and she had preparations to make of her own. But first, she must do this. The giddy recklessness that had possessed her into volunteering for Dragon was fast ebbing from her, and she had to act before it deserted her entirely.

She counted the doors until she came to the one she sought. Raising one small paw to the heavy wood, she knocked. Waited.

No answer. She put her ear to the door and thought she could hear a faint splashing inside. Gathering her courage, she pushed it open.

"Mr. Jenner?"

The room was small and sparsely furnished, its curved walls glittering like fire-licked crystal from a single, guttering candle. The musk of wet fur perfumed the air.

He stood nude in a shallow pool worn into the floor, his back to her, coat plastered wetly to the contours of sculpted muscle, one eye skewering her from over his bare shoulder: Jenner.

Immediately she made to duck back out, averting her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry! I—!"

His chuckle disarmed her. "Come in."

Cautiously, she stepped inside. Stared down at the hem of her shawl twisted in her paws. "Forgive me, I-I didn't mean to intrude—"

"Mrs. Brisby, I can assure you, there is no place here where you are not welcome." He emptied a bucket over his head, water cascading off him, and shook himself with a luxurious sigh. "Ah, but I always feel the need to wash after a debate, to rid myself of the verbal excrement I'm forced to stand under. Please, have a seat."

There was no other furniture, so she sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't seem embarrassed, so she ceased to be. "I…I wanted to say thank you. For your help in front of the council. I was afraid I was going to be thrown out." She shuddered at the memory, those furious voices raining down on her like a volley of blows, striking her dumb with despair. And it had been Jenner, not Justin, who had cut through the din with his silver tongue. Who had taken her paw before them all and sworn his assistance. And she had flinched.

"Not at all. You must forgive my initial objection to your presence. I'm sure Nicodemus explained to you our dire need for secrecy."

"Yes, of course." For a moment she watched him. The jagged blaze of darker fur that divided his back. His wolf-gray pelt. The battle scars that stood out through his damp coat like cracks in a mirror. She drew a deep breath. "Why do you hate him? Nicodemus, I mean."

"'Hate' is rather strong." His brow crumpled in almost theatrical sorrow. "Though it pains me to criticize our leader, I will not hesitate to speak my mind for the good of this colony." He shot her a meaningful look. "I trust you understand, my dear, when I speak of the need to protect that which is most precious."

Timmy's face, thin and fevered, flashed before her eyes. "Well, yes, but, the Plan… seems like it would be a good thing." To live in such a way, free from dependence on the unpredictability of men, their plows and their cats. Dependence she wished she could escape.

It might have been a trick of the candlelight, bestial fury flashing in those blisteringly green eyes, gone before she could be certain it had been there at all. But a memory was stirred:

"_Jenner is dangerous… He could be the undoing of us all."_

Ages' words must have shown on her face because he was silent for a moment. Then, softly, "Mrs. Brisby, why have you come here?"

To ensure for herself that she could trust him, that she could trust the lives of her children in his paws. To look for truth to Ages' muttered warnings. She started to answer, but he cut her off. "I meant, here. To the rosebush. The exact details of your plight were rather vague."

She saw no point in hiding it. "My son Timmy… has pneumonia. The plow has come, but I can't move him. The chill in the air could kill him." _How many times have I had to repeat this?_

"You said 'could', meaning there's a chance he would survive. But you would rather venture into the lair of the Great Owl himself rather than take that risk."

"Yes."

Jenner stepped out of the pool, shrugging on a casual black cloak. "When we left NIMH, we had nothing. We had changed too much; mere survival, scavenging and stealing in the gutters, was no longer an option for us. Other rats feared us, and we felt no felt kinship to them. We were certain we would die, alone in a world in which we had no place. But we moved forward, and came here. All of this we built." He swept out an arm, indicating the room and all that lay beyond it. "Our blood and sweat are the mortar of this dwelling. It is our home, built from the ashes of what we lost, what was taken from us." His voice rose, impassioned, as if to swell over the heads of an imaginary crowd. "And now there is talk of leaving it behind for the uncertainties of a life in the wilderness, where the elements will crush us and our children as surely as the farmer's plow would crush your home. And I will not go along with that outrageous scheme. Am I wrong, simply because my voice stands alone above the rest? Because I dare to oppose the one who would lead us to ruin?" An odd smile, jagged fangs glinting. "Does that make me _evil_, Mrs. Brisby?"

"I…suppose not." So many discoveries today. So many questions answered and so many still nagging. Her head ached and she shook it clear. Her children were waiting.

His lupine features softened, his deep voice gentle. "But I can assure you, whatever minor squabbles we might have among ourselves, we will not fail to unite for the cause of a friend. And Jonathan was a friend to all of us."

He bent to her level and this time he did not seize her paw, but offered his own.

"My deepest condolences for his death. His loss was felt by us all. But I speak on behalf of my entire colony when I say that I hope, now that you have come, a new friendship can be born."

Mrs. Brisby reached out, accepting his big, rough paw in both of hers. She smiled, feeling as if a weight had been removed from her heart. "Thank you, Jenner."

She left, never seeing the cruel smirk that split his face after the door shut behind her.


End file.
